Realme launched two new smartphones – Realme 5 and Realme 5 Pro – in India yesterday. The smartphones are being launched as the successor to Realme 3 and Realme 3 Pro. The Realme 5 goes on sale starting August 27 while the Realme 5 Pro will be available only from September 4. With the new smartphones, the company is further expanding its product portfolio. Both the devices will be available online via Flipkart and it’s own e-store. Alongside the new devices, the company also detailed its plans for the offline retail market.
In an interview with ET Telecom, Realme CEO Madhav Sheth revealed plans for exclusive stores. Sheth told the company is already working on launching its exclusive stores. This will be a big step up from its current strategy of multi-brand stores. The company plans to open its own exclusive stores in India before December. This will compete with Mi Home stores, which acts as exclusive front for Xiaomi products. While its rivals have expanded first either into online or offline retail segment, it’s approach has been different.
The company started its operations as an online-centric smartphone brand. However, it has now expanded into offline retail market as well. Now, it plans to expand from multi-brand offline retail into single brand offline retail with its own exclusive stores. Sheth also confirmed that the company is working on its own user interface to replace Oppo’s ColorOS on its smartphones. He said that it is too early to comment on it and plans to add more features to ColorOS in the meantime.
Realme is the fastest growing smartphone brand in the world. It has managed to become the fourth major brand in India in just 15 months. It has also entered into the top 10 smartphone brands globally at the end of Q2 2019. The former sub-brand of Oppo believes it will continue to grow at this pace while the industry grows at 3 to 5 percent. “I don’t see any challenge for realme, especially in that space,” Sheth said.
